O'Neill v. Montefiore Hospital
Case Summary
The case of Mr. O'Neill and his widow's case against Montefiore Hospital is a fairly basic one but it poses a very relevant and pointed question. The question becomes where the line is drawn between the duty to provide care and when the patient is basically on their own despite any bad things that may happen. The decision on this case was a split decision, so this drives the point home even further that the details and duties in question in this case are far from being clear-cut and defined and this is in part based on what did happen, what did not happen, what allegedly happened and what allegedly did not happen (Leagle, 2015).
The gist of the case is that Mr. O'Neill was awake and rubbing his chest and arms due to having pain in both of those areas. His wife awoke and noticed this and the decision was quickly made to get to the hospital. The trek to the hospital had to be made by foot because no taxis and such were available. There was apparently no attempt made to call for an ambulance. In any event, the couple made it there alive and tried to receive...
The people for their "HIP" plan were not there but he got a hold of one of them on the phone. That person told him we would see him at 8 o'clock. Other than saying that he "might be dead" by that time, not much was discernible from the conversation from the hospital end. The "million dollar question" came down to whether the hospital refused to provide care of if O'Neill declined it. From all appearances, what happened is that the 8 o'clock offer was made and the patient refused it. He then left the hospital as this was apparently his only option and he fell dead just about as soon as he got home (Leagle, 2015).
Elements of Negligence
Duty to Care
There are two people, at least primarily, that are in question here as it relates to having a duty to provide care. The first person would be the nurse that saw and received the O'Neill couple at the hospital. The other would be the doctor who spoke on the phone to Mr. O'Neill about his plight (Leagle, 2015).
Breach of Duty
As can be inferred from the above, there is a question whether the nurse that was actually…
